IV
THE INEVITABLE

«Will you be brave?» The old man asks the young man.
«In exile, bread is bitter, first and last;
All roads are rough, each hour is full of sorrow.»
«Erect, I like a tree shall face the blast!»

«Will you be brave, boy? To a man in exile
Each neighbor's hand becomes a claw, to smite;
Slander and hate will set their dogs upon you.»
«The hired lash only barks, it does not bite!»

«When, with grey mists around you and within you,
You think of your blue mountains fair and free,
Your mother, brothers, and your dearest comrades—»
«Closing mine eyes, my country I shall see!»

«But when you meet by moonlight loving couples
And hear upon the wind their laughter gay,
Your lover's heart, will it remain indifferent?
Will it not sigh, or have a word to say?

»Will it not then recall some eyes celestial,
Long chestnut locks, beloved in other years?»
The youth makes no reply. His eyes grow misty.
«Go, lad!» The old man says. «You now know tears!»